Judicial review for Heathrow's third runway?
news12th September 2018
The legal battle over the third runway at Heathrow Airport is moving forward as six local authorities, including the Mayor of London, reveal their intent to pursue a judicial review of the government’s airports national policy statement.
Rival group Heathrow Hub, who want to expand Heathrow Airport by building an extension to the Northern Runway, have filed papers at the High Court in London through their lawyers.
Run by transport planner Steven Costello and former Arup economist Mark Bostock, the group are opposed to the building of a third runway. The papers seek permission to judicially review Chris Grayling’s, the secretary of state for transport, decision to designate the NPS for approval of the Northwest runway plan.
The process, which was run by the Department for Transport, and started when the Airports Commission was set up in 2013, is believed by Heathrow Hub to be flawed. The secretary of state is the defendant, while Heathrow Airport Ltd is an interested party under Section 13 the Planning Act 2008 of judicial review request.
According to Companies House, the group is 74% owned by Sahara Limited, a company owned by a fashion designer called Susan Coppersmith-Heaven and her family. They also own Runway Innovations Ltd - Heathrow Hub’s sister company, who is supporting the group with the review.
The sister companies have Mark Bostock and Steven Costello in common, who are minor shareholders in both groups. Though the pair stepped down as directors of Heathrow Hub back in May, they remain officers of Runway Innovations Ltd.
Written by Ian Johnson
